The distribution and geographical origin of some French surnames

The geographical distribution of the principal form of a French surname and its close variants (in spelling or pronunciation) has been analysed based on the French births registers, respectively from 1891 to 1915 and from 1916 to 1940, and on telephone directories for 1975. The spatial analysis of the individuals with the principal form of the surname suggests the existence of a positive spatial autocorrelation and three major areas of concentration in central France, the Loire country and Northern France. Within these three main areas of concentration, in 1975 most of the telephone subscribers with the principal surname are listed in rural communes with fewer than 3000 inhabitants, suggesting that the geographical pattern is not recent. Moreover, between the end of the 19th century and 1975 this pattern remains fairly constant. The geographical distribution of the holders of a 'variant' form of the surname shows the existence of a positive correlation between the absolute frequency of the principal surname and that of the variants, but only one area of concentration appears in Loire country. By analogy with the theory of centres of origin in genetics and linguistics, it is suggested that this unique area of concentration could be the region in which the surname originated. If that hypothesis proves to be correct, two main consequences follow: large migration movements occurred before the general rural exodus of the last century, and there has been no major, recent admixture of populations.